Obviously, this won't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Criticizing Harden isn't senseless b****ing though. I think most of us who have even a lick of sense realize our team would be nowhere without Harden. That doesn't mean he's beyond any criticism. There's not much wrong about his game, but this is one thing he absolutely has to improve on. And like I said, it's a leftover habit from McHale. I'm sure D'Antoni will help fix it. There are some here, however, who lose their mind if you say anything Harden needs to fix. It's really damn odd dude. larsv8 has a "defend Harden no matter what" narrative. And everyone here knows it. It's ironic that he would be the one to say someone has a narrative. That sort of thing is ridiculous. It's okay to point out a problem. I think most of us here are reasonable enough to realize it doesn't mean we hate the team or think bad things are going to happen. The sky isn't falling. We're all fans, man. Sometimes there are things that aren't rainbows and butterflies that need to be put out there.
http://www.nbaminer.com/nbaminer_nb...=eexcel&partitionpage=&partition2page=&page=1 Here's some pretty black-and-white, cut-and-dry stats for everyone who thinks James is a good crunch time player. Shoots the worst % in the league in crunch time.
The whole team was sloppy with the ball at the end, not just Harden. EGO taking the quick three after the offensive rebound, Ariza had some costly turnovers and threw the ball right to Green at the end of the game. Just poor play from the Rockets overall. Not really sure how you can blame Harden entirely for low iq ball. Without Harden's third quarter burst the Rockets probably never climb back into the game in the first place.
He was driving and dishing or attacking the basket in the Warriors win and the win in Minny the other night. Tonight I don't know what he was doing. played amazing game till the last 3 minutes.
If Gordon makes the open three, this thread doesn't exist. He has been good at passing the ball but when it's the last second then I'm OK with him taking the shot. The last couple minutes the defense was lacking and dumb turnovers. They all shot bad though and still almost beat one of the best defensive teams in the league.
He just needs to stop jacking up 3 pt shots. He keeps chucking those contested 3 pters that rarely falls in for him.
I agree, just keep the ****ing ball until you're sure you can pass or dribble, Trevor played a terrific game but damn that to was utter ****, a rookie like mistake.
This thread was so predictable. Hero ball is such a stupid name. Isolation plays from the player on your team who is by far better than anyone else on the team isnt exactly a Rockets only feature. The late turnovers were a big problem, the shots not falling were a big problem, and the spurs making every 3 they jacked up late was a huge problem. I get that there are times when Harden tries to do too much but heroball didn't lose the game tonight.
I'm ok with Harden, except I'd like him to call for picks more often and not wave them off as often. That's about it. It seems the picks work well all game and then he chooses not to use them. I genuinely don't understand why. Even if he wants to go one on one, I'd rather he does it after a switch instead of just attacking, for example, the best perimeter defender on planet earth. However, that's part of what makes him what he is. If we have to live with that, we live with that.
Harden's shooting is becoming a problem, our offense is the most 3 pt heavy in the league, we rely on it more than any other aspect of the game. Harden in the past was usually a pretty good outside shooter, although he had cold streaks in the past but over the 4 yrs his percentage has been steadily declining and this season it's around 33-32% after tonight. Lately it feels like he's been taking shooting lessons from Corey ****ing Brewer, obviously he's seeing more pressure in the front court but he NEEDS to improve his jumper, especially when it's as vital part of our game as it is this season.
Just by reading the posts, one would think that Harden had 10 TOs or something. He had just 3, one of which came at the end. If anything, Ariza's dumb decision making cost us more than Harden at the last minute. Also, I don't really like the whole ISO thing either, but it's impossible to imagine this is Harden's own call. I'm pretty sure it's MDA's idea, or else he must be the weakest coach in NBA that allows his best player to do anything even if it hurts the team. But again, I don't think that's the case.
Call it what you will. He holds the ball too late into the shot clock near end of game situations. All I want is to see him start his move before 4 seconds left. That's legitimately all. Him doing that did contribute to the loss tonight. It has also contributed to us losing our momentum all season long in late game situations. It's a problem period. It would be crazy to not want Harden to isolate at the end, but, there has to be a better way to do it. Because what he's been doing in the last few mins of the 4th this entire season has failed.
Basketball is a team game, exactly! Do you think MDA drew up a play that involved the whole team and Harden was like 'NAH, screw that I'm iso'ing.'? NO! Do you also think that Harden ignores open teammates and keeps the ball for himself cause he thinks he's a hero? No! Obviously if guys are open or in position for a shot Harden will find them, but that wasn't the case. Think about what you're saying before you post...
Yes there were low iq plays by other players down the stretch no doubt but Harden as the leader and best player has to be more of a calming influence and not pour gas on the fire at times. He has to be better with his decision making and leading down the stretch. This is on the coaching as well to stress better decisions by Harden down the stretch.
It wouldn't hurt if the other 4 on the floor actually moved and set screens for one another. What else is he gonna do when everybody is watching him dribble
It's not about hero ball IMO. ISOs are normal, especially at the end of games. I think the little bit of extra weight makes him a tad slow so he ends up with more turnovers and less separation when he tries to create his own shot. I'd prefer more drives to the basket, then when defenders sag off, go to the step-back. He seems to go to the step-back a lot more often now and guys know it's coming. Only 1-11 on 3s because they're on top of his step back.
Of course Harden contributed to the loss, every player on the court did. I also agree that there are better ways to ISO Harden and having him hold the ball for the entire shot clock before moving is frustrating. I don't like idea of playing to hold on to a lead as a strategy. But.... this isn't a huge problem and what he's been doing in the 4th has not failed. We just came off a 10 game winning streak and have played great basketball. Turnovers and missed shots cost this one.
